Shive branding machine



J. W. BELL SHIVE BRANDING MACHINE May 23, 1967 'r Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 10, 1965 mar/me JACK 4% 354.1. 1 2 A" Kiwi I May 23, 1967 J. w. BELL, 3,320,877

sums BRANDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 10, 1965 '7 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWW/Tap Jflclf M. BELL May 23, 1967 J. w. BELL SHIVE BRANDING MACHINE '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 10, 1965 'FIG.3

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May 23, 1967 J. w. BELL 3,320,877

SHIVE BRANDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 10, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 mmvme Jflck w. BELL May 23, 1967 J. w. BELL 3,320,877

SHIVE BRANDI NG MACHINE Filed Nov. 10, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIGS VI EYE-IE2 MKI/EM'OQ J/ick w. 5:1. 1.,

May 23, 1967 J. w. BELL SHIVE BRANDING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Nov. 10, 1965 May 23, 1967 J. w. BELL SHIVE BRANDING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Nov. 10, 1965 IIIII-I M/VEIWOQ JAcK J1 BELL United States Patent 3,320,877 SHIVE BRANDING MACHINE Jack W. Bell, Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia, as-

signer t0 Ceeco Products Pty. Limited, New South Wales, Australia, a company of New South Wales Filed Nov. 10, 1965, Ser. No. 507,157 2 Claims. (Cl. 101-44) Certain shives such as those made of plastic and used to seal beer barrels have to bear a printed marking which indicates the date they are used to seal barrels. A marking used frequently is a number which is the number of a day in a year.

The present invention has been devised to provide a machine which will automatically apply to shives a marking which will indicate a date and which marking applicator can be easily changed from day to day as required. While date marking is the primary object of the invention the machine can also be used to apply other markings to shives such as the name of the brewery using them.

A feature of the invention is that the machine will arrange shives, deposited in it in bulk, in a uniform position relative to the printing means and will convey them through the machine in the arranged order.

A shive branding machine according to the present invention comprises in combination on a frame, a shive positioner in the form of a shallow cylindrical tumbler drum mounted for rotation at an acute angle and means to rotate said drum, said drum having an inlet opening in its top and slots on a common pitch circle through its wall adjacent its bottom, said slots being so shaped that shives can only pass through them in a. position in which said shives are to be printed, a shive receiving duct located to receive shives as they pass through said slots and to direct them to fall to a printing station, said duct being shaped to maintain the shives passing through it in the printing position, a shive receiver to receive and hold one shive at a time at the printing station and to eject a printed shive, a reciproc-atable printing head, a hot plate and a hot stamping foil tape, means to reciprocate the printing head and to move the foil tape across the printing station and to operate the shive receiver all in a timed sequence.

Additionally, the machine may include a magazine drum having an open top, said drum being mounted at an acute angle on the frame by a pulley fixed to the bottom of the drum and a stationary hollow journal sleeve projecting through the pulley and supported in said frame, means to rotate the magazine drum, a scoop fixed to said hollow journal sleeve and projecting into the drum through a hole in the bottom thereof, a drum tube connecting the sleeve to a shive transfer duct having its outlet located in the tumbler drum, gate means operable by pneumatic means to allow shives to pass intermittently through the drum tube to the transfer duct, and a blower to move the shives along the transfer duct to the tumbler drum.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are perspective views of the machine from several angles, FIG. 3 having part broken away.

FIG. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a section on plane 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a section on line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a section on plane 77 of FIG. 6, and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of one form of shive to Which the invention is applicable. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to this form of shive, but it is necessarily limited to shives which are so formed that the machine will arrange them identically in a position for printing.

In this embodiment, the machine comprises a frame generally indicated at 1, on which the various components 3,329,877 Patented May 23, 1967 are mounted. A shive positioner in the form of shallow cylindrical tumbler drum 2 is mounted by its shaft 3 on the frame 1 for rotation at an acute angle, by motor 4 and drive 5. The tumbler drum 2 has an inlet opening 6 in its top and slots 7 on a common pitch circle through its wall adjacent its bottom. These slots 7 are shaped so that shives 8 can only pass through the slots 7 in the position in which the shives are to be fed to the marking (printing) part of the machine. The shives can tumble in the tumbler drum 2, until they register with one of the slots 7. Then the shives 8 can fall through the slot 7 into a shive receiving duct 9, thence into a feed tube 10 through which they gravitate in a position in which the shives 8 are to be printed.

The shive receiving duct 9 forms part of a cylindrical housing surrounding the tumbler drum 2. The housing includes a part-circular baflle 11 which occludes the slots 7 over the upward part of the rotary movement of the tumbler drum 2. Shives are ejected through the slots 7 on the downward part of the rotary movement of the tumbler drum 2 and into the shive receiving duct 9. This duct 9 has an overflow outlet 12 in case of a build up of shives in feed tube 10-. Shives 8 can be manually fed into the tumbler drum 2 through the inlet opening 6 or they can be fed from a magazine which will be described later.

The feed tube 10 terminates on a base plate 13 juxtaposed a printing station 14 on the base plate 13. A shive receiver in the form of a quadrant plate 15 is pivotally mounted as at 16 on the base plate 13 for to and fro, horizontal rotational movement between the shive receiving-shive printing position 14 and a shive ejecting position indicated at 16a (FIG. 6). The movement of the quadrant plate 15 is effected by a pneumatic unit indicated generally at 17, pivoted on the frame 1 as at 18 and pivotally connected to the quadrant plate 15 as at 19. The quadrant plate 15 has a part circular slot 20 in its periphery 21, the slot 20 being adapted to receive one shive 8 at a time at the printing station with part of the shive 8 projecting out of the slot 20 as shown in FIG.- 6. The projecting part of the shive 8 forms with the periphery 21 of the quadrant plate 15, a barrier against movement of the next shive out of the feed tube 10, pending printing and ejection of the shive 8 located in the slot 20, and return of the quadrant plate 15 to the receivingprinting position 14. A micro-switch 22 on the base plate 13, is located to be actuated by the entry of a shive 8 into the slot 20, to initiate a printing operation. (A chute indicated at 23 receives the shives 8 as they are ejected by the quadrant plate 15 after a printing operation.)

For printing operations, solenoids 24-24:: control air valve 25 which actuates a pneumatic plunger 26 which latter has a head 27 thereon containing the required marking. Interposed between this head 27 and the shive 8 is a hot stamping foil tape 28 which is caused to travel intermittently from a feed spool 29 to a discharge spool 30 across a hot plate 31 under thermostatic control. A clutch 32 and squeeze rollers 33 are incorporated. Adjustment 34 is provided through these means to regulate the amount of tape 28 pulled through the machine after each printing operation.

A timer mechanism indicated at 35, is incorporated to cause retraction of the marking plunger 26 to actuate an air valve 36 controlling the pneumatic unit 17, to move the quadrant plate 15 to eject a printed shive.

The plunger 26 when fully retracted, see FIG. 5, actuates a micro-switch or air valve indicated at 37, whieh activates pneumatic unit 17 to return the quadrant plate 15 to shive receiving-printing position 14. The next shive 8 moves into the slot 20 and by engagement with the micro-switch 22, initiates the next printing operation.

Additionally, and as particularly illustrated in FIGS. l-4, the machine may include means for automatically feeding shives 8 to the tumbler drum 2. For this purpose, a magazine drum 38 having an open top 39, is mounted at an acute angle on the frame 1 by a pulley 40 fixed to the bottom of the magazine drum 38 and a stationary hollow journal sleeve 41 projecting through the pulley 4-0 and supported in said frame 1. A motor 42 is mounted on the frame 1 and drives the pulley 4th through drive means 43.

A scoop 44 is fixed to the sleeve 41 and projects into the magazine drum 38 through a hole 45 in the bottom of said magazine drum 38, and a drum tube 46 connects the sleeve 41 to a shive transfer duct 47 having its outlet 48 located in the tumbler drum 2. The other end of the transfer duct 47 has a blower 49 connected thereto to move shives 8 along the transfer duct 47 to the tumbler drum 2.

Gate means are incorporated in the drum tube 46 to allow shives 8 to pass intermittently through said drum tube 46 to the transfer duct 47. The gate means consists of a catch plate 50 mounted on the drum tube 46 for reciprocation across the bore of said drum tube 46, and a gate 51 adapted to be opened and closed across the bottom of the drum tube 46. The catch plate 50 is slidable in a bearing 52 on the wall of the drum tube 46, and is connected to the plunger 53 of a pneumatic cylinder 54. The gate 51 is connected by a slotted link 55 and pin 56 to the plunger 57 of another pneumatic cylinder 58.

, On rotation of the magazine drum 38, the angle mounting of said magazine drum 38 tumbles shives 8 therein towards the scoop 44. They are directed by the scoop 44 into the journal sleeve 41 and drum tube 46. The catch plate 50 and gate 51 are actuated in timed sequence to allow one shive 8 to pass through the gate 51 each time it is opened and the shives, as they fall into the transfer duct 47, are moved by the blower to the tumbler drum 2.

It will be understood that the arrangement of the electric leads and air lines incorporated in the machine to actuate the various parts is conventional, and is not here described.

I claim:

1. A shive branding machine comprising in combination on a frame, a shive positioner in the form of a shallow cylindrical tumbler drum mounted for rotation at an acute angle and means to rotate said drum, said drum having an inlet opening in its top and slots on a common pitch circle through its wall adjacent its bottom, said slots being so shaped that shives can only pass through them in a position in which said shives are to be printed, a shive receiving duct located to receive shives passed through said slots and to direct them to fall to a printing station, said duct being shaped to maintain the shives passing through it in the printing position, a shive receiver comprising a quadrant plate having a part circular through slot in its periphery to receive and support one shive at a time at the printing station with part of said shive projecting out of said slot, said projecting part forming with the periphery of the quadrant plate a barrier against movement of the next shive out of the shive receiving duct, pneumatic means pivoted to the frame and to the quadrant plate to oscillate said quadrant plate to and fro horizontally between the printing station and a shive ejecting position, a reciprocatable printing head, a hot plate and a hot stamping foil tape, means to reciprocate the printing head and to move the foil tape across the printing station and to operate the shive receiver all in a timed sequence, said means including a micro-switch located to be actuated by the entry of a shive into said slot to initiate the printing operation.

2. A shive branding machine according to claim 1, including a magazine drum having an open top, said drum being mounted at an acute angle on the frame by a pulley fixed to the bottom of the drum and a stationary hollow journal sleeve projecting through the pulley and supported in said frame, means to rotate the magazine drum, a scoop fixed to said hollow journal sleeve and projecting into the drum through a hole in the bottom thereof, a drum tube connecting the sleeve to a shive transfer duct having its outlet located in the tumbler drum, gate means operable by pneumatic means to allow shives to pass intermittently through the drum tube to the transfer duct, and a blower to move the shives along the transfer duct to the tumbler drum.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 631,388 8/1899 Strasburger l0l-7 1,059,311 4/1913 Nygaard 101-11 3,039,384 6/1962 Kingsley l0lll ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner. WILLIAM MCCARTHY, Examiner.

H. P. EWELL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SHIVE BRANDING MACHINE COMPRISING IN COMBINATION ON A FRAME, A SHIVE POSITIONER IN THE FORM OF A SHALLOW CYLINDRICAL TUMBLER DRUM MOUNTED FOR ROTATION AT AN ACUTE ANGLE AND MEANS TO ROTATE SAID DRUM, SAID DRUM HAVING AN INLET OPENING IN ITS TOP AND SLOTS ON A COMMON PITCH CIRCLE THROUGH ITS WALL ADJACENT ITS BOTTOM, SAID SLOTS BEING SO SHAPED THAT SHIVES CAN ONLY PASS THROUGH THEM IN A POSITION IN WHICH SAID SHIVES ARE TO BE PRINTED, A SHIVE RECEIVING DUCT LOCATED TO RECEIVE SHIVES PASSED THROUGH SAID SLOTS AND TO DIRECT THEM TO FALL TO A PRINTING STATION, SAID DUCT BEING SHAPED TO MAINTAIN THE SHIVES PASSING THROUGH IT IN THE PRINTING POSITION, A SHIVE RECEIVER COMPRISING A QUADRANT PLATE HAVING A PART CIRCULAR THROUGH SLOT IN ITS PERIPHERY TO RECEIVE AND SUPPORT ONE SHIVE AT A TIME AT THE PRINTING STATION WITH PART OF SAID SHIVE PROJECTING OUT OF SAID SLOT, SAID PROJECTING PART FORMING WITH THE PERIPHERY OF THE QUADRANT PLATE A BARRIER AGAINST MOVEMENT OF THE NEXT SHIVE OUT OF THE SHIVE RECEIVING DUCT, PNEUMATIC MEANS PIVOTED TO THE FRAME AND TO THE QUADRANT PLATE TO OSCILLATE SAID QUADRANT PLATE TO AND FRO HORIZONTALLY BETWEEN THE PRINTING STATION AND A SHIVE EJECTING POSITION, A RECIPROCATABLE PRINTING HEAD, A HOT PLATE AND A HOT STAMPING FOIL TAPE, MEANS TO RECIPROCATE THE PRINTING HEAD AND TO MOVE THE FOIL TAPE ACROSS 